


You're the Top (a.k.a. ring around the rosy)

by fabulously_frenzied



Series: ML Oneshots [20]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Oneshot, screw the love square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22725505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabulously_frenzied/pseuds/fabulously_frenzied
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir try to give each other a boost of confidence to ask out their crushes.(AU where Adrien fell for Marinette instead of Ladybug)Loosely based on the song "You're the Top" fromAnything Goes.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: ML Oneshots [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1426444
Comments: 15
Kudos: 191





	You're the Top (a.k.a. ring around the rosy)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!  
>  _*cries in lonely lesbian*_
> 
> I've had, like, three ideas sitting around for a while, and then they became one idea, so this end result is very different than anything I was thinking would happen. But I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Also, no, not _that_ kind of top. I don't write like that, and besides: the term "top" in that sense belongs to the gays. Don't @ me.
> 
> Finally, the link in the summary isn't to the whole song, but I picked it because it's fun to see the interactions between Sutton Foster and Colin Donnell. I'd die for Sutton Foster, by the way. She's so incredibly talented and I love her voice.

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope.”

“No way!” Ladybug laughs in disbelief. “There’s _no_ way she actually did that.”

“She did! Nearly that entire afternoon I kept trying to talk to her, but she wouldn’t even give me the time of day,” Chat Noir explains, grimacing slightly at the memory.

“But I thought you said you two were friends after that?”

“We are—at least, I think we are? I mean, she stopped giving me the cold shoulder, but I really don’t think she likes me very much still. She always seems so uncomfortable whenever I’m around, which sucks because my best friend— _hey!”_ She playfully punches him, and he laughs. “My _civilian_ best friend, there, is that better? Anyway, he’s dating _her_ best friend, so we’re like, always around each other at school and on the rare occasion my dad lets me out of the house to hang out with them. And she always looks like she’s about to say something, but of course _that’s_ the exact moment Hawk Moth decides to send out an akuma, so we both get distracted, and the moment I turn back around, she’s gone.” He sighs. “It’s just never going to happen, is it? Like, I so badly want to tell her how I feel; she’s definitely the strongest, most confident, most creative, most beautiful girl I’ve ever met, and _no,_ I am not amending that statement for you, so deal with it.”

“I can’t believe this. I thought we were friends,” she huffs.

“Yeah, but, you haven’t met _this_ girl. I’m telling you, LB, I don’t even think she’s human. She’s gotta be, like, an angel or something. Maybe a goddess. I don’t know. Whatever she is, she’s _way_ out of my league.” He sighs again, wistfulness clouding his eyes.

Ladybug snorts. “Not as out of league as I am with this guy.”

“Oh? There’s a guy now, Bug?” He wiggles his eyebrows, and she shoves him away, but there’s no strength in it. She leans back, sitting on her hands.

“Yeah. There is. He probably thinks I’m a complete weirdo, though. And I thought he was gonna be a total jerk when I first met him, because one of the people I saw him hanging out with has made it her life’s goal to make _my_ life a living hell since we were in _primaire_ , so I thought he was just gonna be another version of her, but, like, the guy version of her.”

“Okay, first of all,” Chat starts, “I think that other girl you mentioned must be Hawk Moth, because I cannot even begin to imagine why anyone would want to bully you or who else even _would,”_ which makes Ladybug snort again, giggling.

“Now _that’s_ an idea. No, I can say with certainty she’s not Hawk Moth. That’d be ridiculous.” She stops, and laughs for a moment, and he has no idea why. “Ha. _Ridiculous._ I am the funniest person on the planet.”

“Mmmmm, I will respectfully disagree with you on that one.” Another playful punch aims his way, but he dodges. “I’m just saying!” he defends, holding up his hands. “I’m pretty sure that title belongs to me.”

 _“Pfft._ Nuh uh.”

“Uh huh!”

“Not even remotely.”

“Bug! You wound me!”

“Yeah? Does your mystery girl think you’re funny?”

“Of course!” he responds immediately, but he pauses. “At least—actually, uh… I’m not sure. I mean, she laughs whenever I make a joke, but she also laughs when I’m not trying to be funny? She just acts nervous all the time, I don’t know why, and it feels like she just wants to get away from me.” He slaps his hand over his forehead, dragging it down across his face, groaning. “I don’t get it! Am I doing something wrong? She’s _literally_ the most amazing girl in the world and she hates me. I must really be the black cat; I have the worst luck in the world.”

“Nah,” is Ladybug’s reply, “I think any girl would be lucky to have you. Any guy, too—anyone, really. You’re a great guy, Chat. I’m sure whatever’s up between you and this girl can be talked out.”

“Not a chance.”

“What?”

“She won’t even talk to me! _God,_ I must really be the worst if I somehow figured out a way to make this girl hate me.”

_“No!”_

“Yes! I can’t remember if I’ve told you before, but until this year, I’ve been homeschooled my entire life.”

“Really?” She laughs. “And, what, did you learn everything you know from manga and anime? That must be why you act like every anime protagonist ever, you weeb.”

“Well, how else was I supposed to learn how to socialize with people?! My dad never lets me out of his sight, I don’t have any siblings and only one real friend before going to public school for the first time, who I realized fairly recently is actually a pretty big jerk and I just didn’t know it until now—”

“Hmm, maybe _she’s_ Hawk Moth.”

“Now, _that’s_ ridiculous. I know for a fact that can’t be true. So, as I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted—” she sticks her tongue out, “—I guess I’ve never really had a great example of how normal people act, and that’s even before my mom disappeared—”

“Wait, _what?”_ Ladybug gasps, hands clasping over her mouth. “Wait, Chat, no, oh my God, I had no idea! I’m so sorry to hear that!” And the next thing he knows, her arms are around him and his are around her an instant later, and neither says anything for a moment: Ladybug, because she doesn’t know what else to say; Chat, because this is the first time he’s even so much as mentioned his missing mother to anyone other than Chloé or Nathalie. They sit there, hanging onto each other, holding each other up, neither knows how long. He never really noticed exactly how starved for affection he’d been until the first time Nino bro-hugged him, which had Adrien uncontrollably sobbing into an unsuspecting Nino’s arms. When his hand had ever so slightly brushed against Marinette’s on his first day of school when he gave her his umbrella, he found himself with the inexplicable urge to take her hand and hold on for dear life. Her skin was soft, but the muscles and tendons underneath felt so _strong_ and _firm,_ and it was only the umbrella snapping closed around her that snapped him out of his lovestruck stupor.

Eventually, reluctantly, he pulls away. “I mean, now that I think about it, it’s no wonder she wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. I’m a socially clueless dork who’s hardly even interacted with other humans until this fall, I must act like an idiot when I’m around her. Besides, literally everyone in our class has had or _still_ has a crush on her, and they’ve all known her for _years._ She could pick literally any one of them. I don’t stand a chance.”

He startles when Ladybug grabs his shoulders, giving him a slight shake. “Look at me, Chat, _look at me._ I’m not the greatest with words—I’m always tripping over them whenever I talk to this guy—but I mean it when I say you’re one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met.”

“But—”

“No buts! Chat, it hasn’t even been a year since we started working together, but I knew even from the day we first met how brave and selfless you are. You always put others before you even think of yourself, and time and time again you’ve thrown yourself in the middle of danger just to protect someone else. You’re kind and funny—”

“You think I’m funny?”

“Just because your puns are stupid and ill-timed doesn’t mean they wouldn’t otherwise be hilarious, I’d just rather they weren’t in the middle of battle. And usually I’m rolling my eyes because I’m envious I didn’t come up with the same joke myself.”

“Noted.”

“Seriously though, literally anyone would be so lucky to have you, Chat. I know you’d take care of them with everything you have, and you have so much more than you think. Don’t sell yourself short! So don’t tell me you don’t stand a chance. If you actually took the chance to talk to her, try to clear the air with her, I bet she’d be on you in an instant. Heck, I’d even bet _she_ has a crush on _you.”_

“I—wow,” Chat breathes. When was the last time someone had complimented him so sincerely? “You… you really mean that?”

“Of course I do, you dope,” she grins, though there’s the slightest hint of sadness in her smile. He doesn’t know what that means, but he’s never known Ladybug to be insincere. She gently takes his hand in hers and squeezes it softly, looking right into him. “To be completely honest, I’d probably be trying to ask _you_ out myself if not for this other guy.”

“Awww, you _do_ love me!” he squeals, and they fall on top of each other in a fit of giggles.

“Okay,” he finally concedes once he catches his breath again, “okay, okay. Tomorrow. I’ll ask her out—”

“Yes!”

“— _But_ you have to ask him out, too!”

“No!”

Chat scoffs. “What do you mean, ‘no?’ You just went on this whole rant about how great I evidently am, and you can’t even believe in your own worth?” He takes her shoulders, makes her face him. She’s avoiding his gaze now. “Bug, listen to me. Aside from this other girl, you are the kindest, most courageous, most selfless person I know. You’re more creative than I could even imagine, you always have a plan—and even when you’re not confident things will work out, you power through anyway and _make_ things work for you. I’ve never seen anyone else take charge in the face of adversity like you can. Literally everybody in Paris looks up to you—”

“They look up to you, too!” she protests, blushing furiously.

“Not the point! There’s a reason everyone thinks you’re so great, and it’s because you are! Sure, I know you say you stutter in front of this guy you like. I get it. Love is nervous. But don’t try to tell me he’s out of your league when you’re in a class by yourself.” Somewhere along the line she finally started looking up at him, and her blue eyes are bright with tears about to fall. He pulls her in close, trying not to tense at the faint trembling of her body. She’s crying. Ladybug is crying in his arms. _He_ made Ladybug cry.

_Oops._

She pulls back, sits up, scrubs at her eyes with gloved hands. She takes a deep breath before looking back at him. “Okay. You know what? You’ve convinced me.”

“Yay!” His face brightens with a giant smile and he claps his hands together.

“I mean, it’s not like I’ve got anything to lose, right?” she asks, shaking her head. “Yeah. Tomorrow.” She stands up and holds out her hand to him.

He takes her hand and stands up beside her. “Tomorrow.”

  


* * *

  


Both Marinette and Adrien are so trapped inside their own heads trying to figure out _how,_ exactly, they’re going to ask each other out, that they don’t notice the other walking up to the front steps of the school until they’ve collided. Their books and bags go flying as they stumble and flail and ultimately fall to the ground in a tangle of nerves and limbs.

Ordinarily, this is the part where Marinette starts screaming all flustered, where Adrien checks his shoelaces to make sure Plagg didn’t tie them together (it’s happened before). But they’re both so thrown off by the impact that all they can do for a moment is look at each other.

And that’s when they burst out laughing.

They don’t care right now how the scene looks, how their materials are still scattered on the ground around them. They don’t care how many people have stopped to wonder what on earth is going on here, how many of them have pulled out their phones to document the incident, among them Alya and Nino. Nothing else matters

High on their giddiness, Adrien wipes the tears from his eyes and holds out a hand to help Marinette to her feet. His brain hasn’t returned yet, so his mouth leaves without it, saying, “Did we just fall for each other?”

Marinette’s breath catches in her throat as she takes his hand, then her eyes narrow. Oh no. Oh no. Why did he say that? Stupid Chat Noir and his puns. “Uh, I mean—”

“No, no,” she says, tightening her grip on his hand— _has she always been this strong?_ —and pulling him right up to her. “You don’t get to go back on that.”

“W-what?”

She exhales. “Look, I may not be a great romancer, but last night I made someone a promise that I’d ask you out, so…” Her confidence dissolves once she hears the words out of her mouth. She tries to pull away, but Adrien hangs on.

“Funny,” he replies, “last night, I made someone a promise that I’d ask _you_ out.” He ignores the chorus of _awwwww_ s from their spectators, too intrigued by the gears he can see have started turning in Marinette’s brain.

“Is that so?” she asks.

“It is so.” He smirks, leaning down toward her face. “And if you think you’re not the greatest at romance, why don’t you prove it to me?”

“Hmmm,” she muses, not even flinching at the proximity. “No, I don’t think I have anything to prove to you.”

Now he’s confused. “And how’s that?”

“Well, if I recall correctly, _you’re_ the one who insisted I ask _you_ out when I said you should ask _me_ out,” she stands on her tiptoes, whispering right against his ear, _“chaton.”_

He blinks, eyes wide, and it’s like he’s noticing the sheen of her midnight hair, the blue of her bright eyes, the playfulness in her laughter, the confidence in her stance all over again. He laughs, making her smile because she knows he’s in on it now, too.

“Well, then,” he says, unable to keep a grin from breaking across his face, “I think you have something to ask me.”

“Uh-uh-uh,” she taunts. “You agreed to ask me, first.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he concedes.

“You know I am.”

“In that case,” he begins, bringing her knuckles to his lips like he’s always wanted to do, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you do me the honor of going out with me?”

She grabs his hand in return and kisses his knuckles, and _goodness,_ that shouldn’t have made him blush as hard as he is. “Only if you go out with me, Adrien Agreste.”

He laughs again, then pulls back and makes a show of thinking over her conditions. “Well… you drive a hard bargain, Princess, but I think I have no choice but to accept to your terms.”

She snorts. “Just kiss me already, you dork.”

“As you wish.” And if (or when) the chorus of cheers and snaps of pictures around them find their way back to his father and give him a shock, well, Adrien doesn’t care. He has all the support he’ll ever need right next to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fabulously-frenzied)!


End file.
